Identity Theft
by Juliet316 2000
Summary: Identity theft turns several lives upside down.
1. Prologue

Identity Theft

TITLE: Identity Theft Prologue? R

AUTHOR: Juliet3:16

EMAIL: R

CONTENT: VIOLENCE, ADULT LANGUAGE

CATEGORY: ADULT, ANGST, DRAMA

SPOILERS: Shortly after SummerSlam 2000

SUMMARY: Identity theft turns several lives upside down.

DISCLAIMER: I own none of the people in this fic, please don't sue.

DISTRIBUTION: WWOMB

_Identity Theft_

_Prologue_

_January 2001_

She walked into the bar, trying not to gag at the smell of smoke created by cigarettes, cigars, and other substances. She paid no mind to the leering glares from the men in the place (and a few of the women). She had been used to it in her previous lines of work, including her last job. That was gone now.

All because of one vengeful, jealous shrew who had fired her and every other woman in the company. She was pissed.

She was also a woman on a mission.

Roaming her eyes through the crowd, she found the person she was looking for. He was as described: A well - built man in his late 20's - early 30's. Aside from the slightly different physical dimensions and spiky black hair, he looked almost exactly what she was wanting.

_'Perfect,' _She thought.

Walking with a confidence that her past gave her, she strode to the man's table and sat down without asking for an invitation, even going so far as to put her feet on the table. The man looked up at her with mild annoyance.

"You need something?" he asked.

"Yeah, you," she said simply.

The man raised his dark eyebrows, but didn't have a look of outrage. She took her feet off the table.

"Don't worry, I'm not interested in getting in your pants," she said, playing a smirk on her face, "how would you like to be rich beyond your wildest dreams without lifting a finger?"

He leaned close to her

"I'd say: tell me more?"

She laid out her plan of greed and revenge to him; outlining her firing and her method of striking back at the company that let her go. She left out her methods of getting her hands on the money they needed. She wanted to protect her few friends she had left if things went sour.

The man regarded her for a moment. Then he rewarded her with a smirk of his own.

"I say, you got yourself a partner," he held his hand out, which she returned to seal their new partnership.

"So you got a name I can call you or something?"

The woman ran her hand through her newly dyed brown hair with an eggagerated air of self - importance that she'd spent months practicing.

"You, she answered with a sultry smile, "May call me Stephanie McMahon - Helmsley.."

ducks breakables Feedback is appreciated.


	2. Chapter 1: Never say Never

I think I confused some people with the prologue. smirks So much the better.

TITLE: Identity Theft Chapter One? R

AUTHOR: Juliet3:16

EMAIL: RATING: R

CONTENT: VIOLENCE, ADULT LANGUAGE

CATEGORY: ADULT, ANGST, DRAMA

SPOILERS: Shortly after SummerSlam 2000

SUMMARY: Identity theft turns several lives upside down.

DISCLAIMER: I own none of the people in this fic, please don't sue.

DISTRIBUTION: WWOMB

_Identity Theft_

_Chapter One._

_Never Say Never_

_About mid 2003_

Stephanie McMahon - Helmsley was not in a good mood.

"How the heck are they doing this?" she muttered, staring at her computer.

"Doing what, Steph?" a question called out, breaking Stephanie's concentration. She looked over toward the voice to find her brother, Shane at the door of her office.

"Stealing my bank account," she replied simply, turning back to the screen.

"Again!" Shane exclaimed, going to stand beside his sister to look at the screen. He stared at it with the type of disbelief she had a few moments earlier.

"Yes, again," Stephanie sighed with a mixture of exasperation and resignation. She almost expected the semi - regular siphoning of her accounts and trust funds by this point. She was getting tired of it; tired and angry. "Half a million this time."

"Shit!" Shane swore. Stephanie knew her brother was a man of few obscenities; yet, ever since the theft of his sister's identity came to light, the swear words came flying whenever the matter came up. "I thought the FBI put a trace out, so they would know who was doing this?"

"Every time they try to trace it electronically, they seem to lose the trace on the account's end. They're starting to think it maybe a professional hacker for hire."

"So somebody else is behind this?" Shane asked.

Stephanie gave him a cross look.

"Don't act so surprised," she responded, "you were the one speculating all along that the hack was professional and separate from the impersonators."

"Impersonator," Shane stated.

_"Impersonators,"_ Stephanie corrected her older brother. "Shane why can't you admit that Hunter's been dead for more than two years now. He died in an avalanche. The person with this woman is _not _him."

Shane sighed. He knew he should just subscribe to his sister's point of view and admit there was more than one impersonator. But he just could not shake the feelings he had. Maybe it was the paranoia that their late father instilled into him and his sister, or maybe it was the fact that the man his sister had married had not been the most honest man to begin with. Shane could never quite get over the instinct that it was way too easy that an avalanche could kill all but one of the Kliq.

Still, he decided to drop the subject for today. He really did not need to get into another argument with his sister about it. Especially with the mood she had to be in.

"Sorry," he apologized, "so, what, if anything else can the FBI do if they can't trace the hacks?"

"Well, their still going to try to trace the hacks, and hope they get lucky," she explained, "but they've also alerted the World Bank and most banks around the world. Their hoping a bank will alert authorities if one or two somebodies come in and make an unusually hefty withdrawal, especially anybody that looks even remotely like me."

"What makes the FBI think they'll attempt to even use a bank this time? I mean, they haven't the last couple of times."

There was still evidence last I checked of my impersonator still somewhere in Europe," Stephanie told her brother, "hopefully she does something stupid and shows her face in a populated area."

"Complete the list of enemies the FBI told you to make?" Shane asked.

"Way too many females for my peace of mind," Stephanie replied.

"Well, maybe if you hadn't fired a whole division," he started, then stopped at the glare his sister gave him. In a fit of jealous rage and grief over learning that Trish Stratus was in her husband's hotel room the day of the avalanche, Stephanie fired every single woman in the company; from the wrestlers and valets; right down to the makeup lady, Janet, and swore up and down that there would never be another woman in the company other than her for as long as she lived. To this day, despite Shane's best efforts there were still no women in the WWF. Every time Shane thought he was making progress, somebody would mention Trish Stratus or the possibility that her impostor could be a woman she fired and she would stand even more resolute on the subject than ever. Sometimes Shane wondered if things would ever change with his sister's "No woman" stance.

Stephanie kept her glare leveled at her brother, then pulled out a number of papers from her desk.

"Funny you should bring that up today," she retorted, "take a look at those contracts."

Shane sat down and flipped over the thin stack of papers with his fingers, glancing at the names on them.

"Ivory . . . Jacqueline . . . Molly Holly . . . "Shane muttered, "Jazz?"

"She's from the old ECW," Stephanie explained, ignoring the annoyed look she had gotten from Shane.

"Steph, these are all female."

"Very astute observation, big brother," Stephanie smirked. At Shane's further confusion, Stephanie went further: "I just decided you were right. In order to compete with WCW, then we need what they don't have: A solid women's division."

Shane suspected there was more to Stephanie's sudden turnabout than simply competition, but was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. He continued to look at the names on the contracts her sister drawn up. One name made him stop short.

"Trish Stratus!" Shane exclaimed. "I thought you said and I quote: 'That bitch would have to resurrect Dad and Hunter and show up with them on each arm before I let her back into the company.' Okay Steph, what's really going on here?"

Stephanie fought not to squirm. She knew Shane already suspected she had an ulterior motive for hiring/rehiring so many women wrestlers and she knew seeing Stratus' name would only serve to confirm it in her brother's mind. She had been hoping that he would miss that particular name.

"Well," Steph stammered out. "She's done pretty well for herself in the Indies. She could be a very good contender for the Women's title instead of the eye candy she was last go around. Plus - "

"Steph . . . " Shane said warningly.

"Well, the FBI said to find someway to whittle down the suspect list," Stephanie finally caved and admitted her plot to her brother.

"Stephanie!" Shane admonished his baby sister. He could not believe she would pull something like that! "It's like dangling a carrot in front of a rabbit! What? Are you going to take the carrots from the rabbits once the right one has bitten?"

Stephanie looked offended by the suggestion.

"If you're asking if I'm going to terminate the contracts once the impostor is found," Stephanie said witheringly, "the answer is now. Besides the lawsuits something like that would probably unleash, I figured this would kill two birds with one stone: I narrow down the suspect list, which could be moot by the way since she could be somebody not even on my suspect list, _and _we can strike out at Eric and WCW and create the one thing he doesn't. A legitimate Women's Wrestling Division."

Shane sighed. He knew his sister had a point, but he still thought it was playing with a lot of people's lives either way. He continued to look through the contracts his sister proffered him. In the midst of familiar and unfamiliar names, he noticed one major name missing.

"Where's Lita's?" Shane asked.

This time it was Stephanie's turn to sigh.

"If you can figure that out, let me know," she grumbled, "I sent it out, but I haven't seen it come back."

Shane opened his mouth to offer a comment, when Stephanie's phone rang.

"Hello," the younger of the two McMahon siblings answered.

"Yes, this is she," she said, listening to whomever it was on the other end. Shane watched Stephanie's face become more and more animated.

"Really?" Where?" Stephanie asked excitedly, grabbing a pen and notepad from her desk. "Uh - huh, uh - huh. Yes, yes. Do I have to come over there or wait for them to be brought here?" She listened for a beat. "I can be there in a couple of days. Yes, thank you Agent Long. Bye - bye."

"Well?" Shane asked as Stephanie hung up the phone then dialed another number.

"Yes, this is Stephanie McMahon Helmsley. I want our fasted plane fueled for a trip to London in exactly three hours. Yes, I'm serious. London. Three hours. Thank you," Stephanie hung up and began taking things from her desk and putting them in her purse.

"Steph?" he broke in, causing her to pause only briefly.

"They found them!" Stephanie explained, going into her desk and looking for things she would need for her trip. "They caught them just outside of London. They're fighting extradition back to the US, saying that they aren't the people the FBI is looking for. They want me to come over and see if they or at least, the female, are ones from my suspect list."

"That's great!" Shane responded truthfully.

"Now, I've got to get home and packed. Hopefully they realized I was serious about that plane leaving in three hours. Will you be all right helming all the shows while I'm gone? I know Marissa - "

"Is still in the early stages of pregnancy and the doctor said everything was fine," Shane assured his sister. "Everything will be fine. Go and nail these people."

"Thanks," Stephanie smiled, giving her brother a peck on the cheek before heading out the door to grab a few things from her home before she got on the plane.

Okay that's it for this chapter. All I can say is at least one of the impostors will be revealed soon, if I haven't given it away already. Blushes

More soon!


	3. Chapter Two: Police Report

TITLE: Identity Theft Chapter Two/?

AUTHOR: Juliet3:16

EMAIL: R

CONTENT: VIOLENCE, ADULT LANGUAGE

CATEGORY: ADULT, ANGST, DRAMA

SPOILERS: Shortly after SummerSlam 2000

SUMMARY: Identity theft turns several lives upside down.

DISCLAIMER: I own none of the people in this fic, please don't sue.

DISTRIBUTION: WWOMB

NOTES: Takes place only half a day after the events of Chapter One.

_Identity Theft_

_Chapter Two_

_Police Report_

Half a day later, Stephanie's plane landed in London. She was not alone, however. Apparently, her brother, Shane, saw fit to appoint a bodyguard for her journey. Shane's reasoning, the 'bodyguard' said, was that her brother did not want her overseas alone, despite the fact that Stephanie had made several business trips alone overseas in the past. That just meant to Stephanie that Shane wanted her to have a shoulder to cry on despite everything she had said to him earlier about Hunter being dead.

Stephanie found it hard to be angry at Shane's intent. Shane and Stephanie may have had stubborn views on the subject of whether Hunter was alive or dead (it was a trait they had both inherited), but she knew Shane's heart was in the right place. Shane cared for his sister deeply, and aside from a foolish deal he and their father made with the Undertaker a few years ago, would never do anything to deliberately cause his baby sister pain or harm. He was worried and Stephanie knew it.

Still, a part of her wished Shane had sent somebody other than Scott Hall with her to London.

It was not that Stephanie hated the man. On the contrary, Stephanie was the one that persuaded Shane to let her hire Hall when WCW fired him in 2002. She was the one that persuaded him to finally get the help he needed for his alcoholism and to try and put his family back together. In fact, he had been clean and sober since the day WWF rehired him. Still she was uncomfortable when she was in close quarters with not just him, but anybody that had once been close with Hunter, his parents included.

Perhaps she was not as over the Trish Stratus stuff as she thought.

Sighing as the plane landed, she gave a quick, tight smile to Hall as they began to disembark the company owned jet. An hour or so later, Stephanie and Scott were at Scotland Yard, where the suspected identity thieves were being held.

"Mrs. Helmsley," a balding man of average height greeted her, "I'm Inspector Reed. Special Agent Long called and informed us that you would be coming. He also conveyed his apologies but he would be unable to be here until tomorrow. He's wrapping up a separate investigation at the moment."

Stephanie shook the inspector's hand.

"This is my friend Scott Hall," she gestured to her traveling companion, not knowing how else to address him. The inspector gave Scott a firm handshake as well. "Did Agent Long mention anything about extradition for the suspects?"

"I'm afraid Agent Long will be unable to begin the process until he arrives in the morning. If you would like, I can have my best men escort you and your friend to whatever accommodations you may have and we can see if you can identify the perpetrators in the morning," the inspector explained.

"I would like to get this over with as soon as possible. Is there anyway that I can at least try and identify them tonight?" Stephanie asked, weariness in her voice.

The inspector nodded. "Agent Long said you might want to pursue that. The male is currently in one of our detention centers about a a block from here. The female, however is in one of our interrogation rooms a couple of floors above us. If you and your friend will come with me, you should be able to see her before she's escorted to a cell."

Stephanie and Scott followed the older man up the two flights of stairs that lead to the old building's interrogation room. As they climbed, Stephanie could not help the tiny knots that were forming in her stomach. The closer she got to her goal of finding out who had been behind her financial misery for the last couple of years, the more nervous she got. As if a small part of her dreaded finding out the truth. One part of her was relieved that she would finally know who had the audacity to impersonate her and bilk her out of millions of dollars. The other part was scared that her discovery would only lead to more questions than answers.

Finally they entered a room that was devoid of all furniture. The only thing of note in the entire room was a large two - way mirror. Through it Stephanie could see another detective interrogating a young woman in an adjacent room. That room was about as small as the one Stephanie and Scott were in, with three chairs and a small table. The furniture was not what caught Stephanie's eyes. It was the woman sitting in one of the chairs.

It startled Stephanie how much the other woman looked like her. The woman had long, brown hair that matched Stephanie's normal color. The woman was sitting down so that it wasn't clear how tall she was, but Stephanie already knew the woman was not more than a couple of inches more than Stephanie was. The facial features were slightly different, but similar enough to where if Stephanie had not already known who the woman on the other side of the mirror was she would be doing a double - take at that distance. Even if Stephanie had not already recognized the face, however, the tattoo on the other woman's arm would have told Stephanie all she needed to know.

"Her name is Lita," Stephanie told Inspector Reed and Hall.


End file.
